Toilet-paper fixture



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TOILET PAPER FIXTURE.

No. 325,174. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.,

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. O. H. HICKS.

TOILET PAPER FIXTURE.

Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

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OLIVER- HEIVLETT HICKS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TOILET-PAPER FIXTURE.

JPECZFIGATION canning part of Letters Patent No. 325,174, dated August.25,1885.

(No model.)

T 0 ft whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, OLivnn HEWLETT HICKS, of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Toilet-PaperFiX- tures; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and to the figures and letters of reference markedthereon.

Heretofore toiletpaper has been put up in rolls of continuous length andhung in suitable bearings, so as to be removed as needed, and in someinstances the paper has been perforated transversely at regularintervals to enable the user to, with greater convenience, tear offportions of therequisite length, or in lieu of this acutterhasbcenarrangedin proximity to the roll to enable the quantity pulledoff the roll to be conveniently severed. A well-founded objection hasbeen urged against each of these arrangements to wit, that theemployment of them entails a great waste of paper, since, in a largemajority of instances, from the freedom with which the paper is unwoundfrom the roll, a much larger quantity is withdrawn than is needed.

The object of my invention is to so arrange the paper as to prevent morethan a given quantity of it from being withdrawn from the roll at asingle operation, and so that in the act of withdrawing such givenquantity it shall be automatically severed from the roll, leavingpendent from the roll a free end, which shall serve as a means forwithdrawing a like quantity by the next user.

In order that others may acquire a full understanding of my invention, Iwill now proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 represents a top view of the fixture androll; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section of the same; Fig. 3,2111end view, and Fig. i a view of the core-plate detached. Figs. 5 and 6are views of modified forms of the invention.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

The letter A represents a plate or backing adapted to be secured to awall or other ob ject, and having extending from it two springarms, E E,which have near their outer ends bearings H H for the accommodation ofthe journals or pivots of a core-plate, F, arranged within the roll ofpaper. Between the arms E E, and near the inner portions, extends aplate, M, the outer edge of which may be made either plain or serrated,though I by preference make it serrated, as shown in Fig. 1. The roll oftoilet-paper B has a large central opening for the accommodation of thecoreplate F, and when slipped upon said coreplate assumes an elongatedor oval shape, as shown.

In applying the roll of paper to the fixture the core-plate is firstslipped into it, and is then connected to the arms E E by springing thelatter outward suiiiciently to permit the pivots or journals of saidcore-plate to be entered in the bearings H H of said arms, as will bereadily understood. By preference the pivots or journals are located outof line with the center of gravity of the plate. in order that one sideof said core-plate shall normally hang downward and tend to hold theroll of paper in substantially the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thisresult may be effected either by arranging the pivots eccentrically tothe core-plate, or by attaching them ecu trally thereto,and having oneside of the core plate heavier than the other.

\Vith the roll hung inthe manner described the operation of unwindingand severing paper from it is as follows: The depending end 0 is graspedby the user and pulled, and the roll is thereby rotated until arrestedby its upper portion coming in contact with the plate M, as shown by thedotted lines in Fig. 2. As soon as this arrest of the motion of the rolltakes place the depending portion of the paper becomes drawn tightlyover the edge of the plate M,and.can be severed at that point, either bya continued pull on the paper or by a lateral tearing motion. The rollis released by the severance of the end, and swings back toward firstposition, bringing up against the under side of the plate M, and by thejar imparted to it by contact with said plate causes the new end ofpaper to drop down into position to be grasped by the next user.

It will be observed that the plate M performs the function of. a stopfor arresting the forward rotation of the roll, and holding the ezainroll while the section of paper is being removed, as well as thefunction of severing said section of paper, and its importance as a stopis as great, if not greater, than its importance as a cutter, since thestopping of the roll, coupled with the continued movement of the freeend of the paper, must necessarily cause the severance of the paper atsome point at or near the point the end leaves the bod of the roll.

From the preceding description it is clear that only a limited amount ofpaper can be removed from the roll at any one operation, and that thecircumference of the roll fiXesthe limit of length of the portiondetached.

It may be stated that to obtain the most practical and economicalresults the roll of paper, when in cylindrical form, and before thecore-plate is applied to it, should have an internal diameter of notless than twice the thickness of its superposed layers. I prefer rollsof an interior diameter of, say, two inches and threequarters and anexternal diameter of about five inches. When these proportions are notsubstantially followed, the last sheets severed from the roll willeither be too short, or the first sheets will be too long, resulting, onthe one hand,in an insufficient article, and on the other hand in anunnecessary waste of material.

Instead of weighting the core-plate to cause it to return the roll afterthe latter has been oscillated in one direction by the pull on thepaper, a spring, 8, may be arranged 011 the core-plate in such manner asto strike one of the arms E, and by its rebound return the roll to firstposition, as shown in Fig, 5.

A round roll may be substituted for the oval one, in which case an arm,A, to throw the roll out of balance, and a distance-determinating stop,A must be substituted for the oval roll and weighted coreplate, as shownin Fig. 6.

I do not specifically claim herein the form or construction of the ovalroll, since it is made the subject-matter of a separate originalapplication filed by me on the 10th day of July, 1885. Neither do Iclaim herein, broadly, the combination, with an oscillating roll oftoiletpaper actuated in one direction by a pull upon its free end, of astop for arresting the roll at the limit of its motion when soactuated,either with or without another stop for arresting the motion ofsaid roll at the limit of its oscillation in the opposite direction; nordo I claim herein such a combination, wherein the roll is hung uponbearings out of line with its center of gravity, so as to automaticallyreturn it to first position after being turned by the pull of the paper;but I have made all such matters the subject of a separate applicationfiled February 7, 1885, of which this is a division.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a weighted oscillatingroll of toilet-paper actuated in one direction by a pull upon its freeend, of a knife or cutter co-operating with said roll to sever theunwound portion when the roll has reached the limit ofits motion in onedirection, and a stop 'for limiting the motion of said roll,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an oscillating roll of toilet-paper having itsbearings out of line with its center of gravity and actuated in onedirection by a pull upon-its free end, of a stop constituting a knife orcutter for cooperating with said roll to sever the unwound portion whenthe roll has reached the limit of its motion in one direction, theeccentric hanging of the roll returning it automatically to its normalposition, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an elongated or oval oscillating roll oftoilet-paper actuated in one direction by a pull upon its free end, of astop constituting a knife or cutter co-operating with the roll to severthe unwound portion therefrom when the rollhas reached the limit of itsmotion when so actuated, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the supporting arms, of a stop-plate or cutterextending be tween said arms, and an oscillating core-plate having itsbearings in said arms and adapted to hold a roll of paper, substantiallyas dcscribed.

5. The combination of the back plate, the supportingarms, the plateforming the stop and cutter, and the oscillating core-plate, the wholearranged and operating substantially as described.

OLIVER HEXVLETT HICKS.

Vitnesses:

A. S. STEUART, FRED F. Gannon.

